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Boycott activists celebrate as Ahava quits South Africa

An Israeli cosmetics company based in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank has been forced out of South Africa after a sustained boycott campaign.

The news about Ahava was revealed yesterday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

A spokesperson for BDS South Africa today described it as “a great victory for us.” Itani Rasalanavho expressed surprise at the news, but noted that the company had been gradually reducing its presence in malls and shopping centers around the country for a while.

“It shows the influence we are having,” he said. “It is something that needs to be celebrated.”

She was “not allowed” to comment as the distributor, but said the pull-out from South Africa was “a surprise to me.” A call to Ahava US was not answered. Emails to Ahava offices in South Africa, US and Israel were not answered before publication. (Friday afternoon is a weekend in Tel Aviv.)

Ahava is most well known for its skin care products, which are created using minerals and mud extracted from the section of the Dead Sea within the occupied West Bank. Its factory is based in the illegal Israeli settlement Mitzpe Shalem, south of the Palestinian town Jericho.

In 2011, the jurors at the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine said that Ahava was guilty of “pillage” of Palestinian resources (a technical term under international law).

Ahava has been the subject of sustained campaign around the world, with groups like CODEPINK in the US taking it on.

Comments

Well done BDS South Africa & Open Shuhada Street! Boycotts and protests take time to have an impact and require sustained commitment to be effective - but this result provides more evidence that they can effect change. I hope this helps boost the morale & convictions of protestors and boycott participants worldwide.